I'm planning a hunt for a smallish animal this year. It's going to require a lot of walking. So, I'm testing guns/bullets and getting in shape.
We had rain from last night to noon today. I figured around 4 PM the local groundhogs would be out eating. I went to the dog pound and airport where I have exclusive hunting rights. It was cool and sunny, so I took my .25-06 Encore and 6.5/.284 Encore and sat on a high bank.
Within 15 minutes I had three 'hogs with 3 different bullets. Here's the results

The one on the right was taken with a Sierra .25 cal. 90 gr. HP. I sort of expected this result.
The one on the left was done with a .25 cal. Hornady 100 gr. SP. The results were a little surprising. I'm ruling out these bullets.
The one in the middle was with my 6.5/.284 and a 143 gr. Hornady ELD-X. I had about ruled this bullet out last year when I did a deer at 581 yds. with the ELD-X and had a 4" exit in the hide and a 6" exit under the hide. Guess I'll have to rethink this. The exit was only 1 1/2"
All 3 'hogs were done from 160-170 yds.
I went to the airport next. Did one at 105 with my .300 Whisper and one at 71 and 90 yds. with my Quiet Gun (a suppressed Ruger MKIII). Nothing special about these kills. All routine shots.
I guess I haven't figured out what's in my gun..... yet or what gun. The .25-06 is light. The 6.5 XP is very heavy. I have plenty more .25 bullets to test. I love doing this stuff.

Great shooting as always.

Did u have deer meat left with the ELD-X?

The 90 grain HP seems like a keeper, if it's accurate that is.

Lone Wolf, the 90 gr. HP is too destructive for any small animals you intend to mount or eat. Extremely accurate.
dvan, the insides of the deer was destroyed, ugly to look at, and not edible for about 20% of the animal.

How are they on deer ?
Looks like they would skin and butcher them for you too.....

True, but for whacking pests they did exactly what I'd want them to.

Thanks for reply.

AK 1, I've been bitten by the big caliber bug on deer for a long time. Never killed one with my .25-06, but I have shot a lot with my .250 AI XP. 85 & 100 gr. BTs, 100 Horn. SP, 90 gr. Sierra HPs, and Xs are only so-so. Most deer ran a bunch. I like to see mine drop.
This wasn't based on one or two kills, but more like 25-30. I gave up on it.
The .25-06 will definitely be tried on deer. I think I know 2 bullets that will cause much less damage than these two.
The 130 gr. 6.5 AB would be the best, but my two are somewhat heavy. I took the XP on a Coues deer hunt last year where I walked 6 miles a day. That was really hard on my old body.

one word....spectacular........